The Wahoo KICKR RUN is a new treadmill that aims to create the most natural running experience available indoors through unique features like its RunFree mode, where you can speed up and slow down without using buttons or paddles. It’s available now in the US, and coming to the UK next year, so is it worth its $5k price and is the RunFree mode as good as it sounds on paper? Nick went for a test run on the KICKR RUN at Wahoo’s offices in London; here’s his first impressions.
00:00 – Intro
00:02 – Design & Key Stats
02:11 – First Run
08:11 – Early Verdict
More ways to enjoy The Run Testers
Check out our website:
Best running shoes of 2024:
Best carbon plate running shoes of 2024:
Subscribe:
Follow Us:
Listen to The Run Testers Podcast:
Watch The Run Testers Shorts:
Hello and welcome to run testers my name Is Nick we have something a little bit Different today in that yesterday I went To run on the Wahoo kicker run treadmill The very exciting new treadmill from Wahoo that's available in the US but not In the UK can dive into my impressions Of the machine and give you some more of An introduction in a minute but first I Want to run through some of the key Stats on the machine starting with the Price which is $5,000 plus $300 for Delivery available in the US now in the UK late next year it's a big machine so It requires a lot of clearance in terms Of face both to the sides and behind you And also above you they recommend that You have a clearance for height that's 24 in greater than the height of the Tallest user because the treadmill does Sit quite a long way off the floor it's Got a very big running belt it's 69 in Time 22 in really spacious certainly Noticed that on the run yesterday very High top speed of 4 minutes per mile Which is 229 per kilometer got a maximum Incline of 15% and then a maximum Decline ofus 3% so you can do some Downhill running on it as well machine Has paddles that can use to control Speed and incline and they have almost Incremental changes you can do on them So if you can do a half tap on each for You know a small bump in speed or
Incline or a really big push that then Gives you a bigger jump and you can Actually if you hold it in position for Something like on speed you can increase The speed very minutely almost to the Second in your terms of your pace which Is shown on the console in terms of Minutes per kilometer or mile instead of The kind of standard speed measurement You get on most treadmills also on the Console you get your incline but you do Not get time and distance the treadmill Actually isn't really recording that Information it's very much designed to Be used in partnership with apps which You connect to via Bluetooth so you Won't see like total time and distance On the treadmill itself only in Connected apps which you can use on a Tablet or phone or even on laptop and The massive tray that's on the front of The machine that has a strap for holding A laptop in place and that kind of thing The big exciting features on the machine I'm going to talk more about in a minute Are things like the runfree mode where You can adjust your speed without having To use the paddles just by positioning Yourself on the Belt a little Differently and in general a natural Running feel thanks to the belt material Used and also the way it can tilt lat so You don't end up landing on an entirely Even surface the entire time which again
Mimics the feeling of outdoor running a Bit more there's a bit more detail on Those features to come before my run and Then we'll talk through my experience on The [Music] Machine good morning from London uh as You can tell I'm at the Wahoo Offices Here to try out a very special product Going to try out the Wahoo kicker run Treadmill which is something I'm really Excited about obviously it's this new Treadmill from W it's now available in The US coming to the UK and other Countries next year which has some Really unique and novel features like The runfree mode in particular which Allows you to basically just run on the Pace and it will increase and decrease In line with you as you increase and Decrease your pace you know quite Naturally so delivering hopefully a Really natural running experience where You can just speed up by running faster Though you can obviously use things like Paddles on the machine to uh to do that If you want to instead but that's the Main thing I'm looking to test here Today going my 60 Minute easy run on the Plan today so I'm going to do that on The treadmill play around with the paces You know speed up slow down it's got a Very high top speed of 4 minute a mile So probably won be spending too much
Time at that top Pace but other features On here you've got a running belt that's Designed to simulate like a hard hard Attack kind of Trail so give you quite a Nice experience under the foot and it Has a lateral tilting mechanism where it Moves kind of half a degree on a slant Either way so you're not Landing in the Same spot every time like cuz outside You never really run on a completely Level surface so that creates again a More natural running experience that in Particular I'm quite interested because One reason I don't use treadmill loads And loads is that if you have a little Niggle you land in the same spot all the Time on a flat surface so sometimes I Worry that'll exacerbate that niggle and Having that slightly uneven surface here As it moves I'll be intering to see if That's really perceptible at all but Yeah so that's a load of really natural Running features I'm really excited to Give it a go I just did the setup on the Machine to try out the kind of runfree Mode and other little features like that And now I'm to going and actually do a Proper run on it and see how it [Music] Feels so all done after an hour on the Wahoo kicker run and that was amazing Like it really you know I very high Hopes and expectations for this machine And it kind of surpassed them when I was
Using that run free mode it really does Feel very easy to move up and down in Speed and but also crucially it's quite Easy to lock in on a pace because I was A bit worried that if you're in that Mode you know be jerking around a bit You' getting slower faster but actually No if you're just running normally on The spot like you would run at a pace it Just kind of stays at that pace and then You can speed up kind of just lean Forward a little bit start Landing a Little bit further forward on the Treadmill starts to speed up and then Yeah you can uh ease back a bit quite Naturally as well like it's not entirely The same as speeding up or slowing down When you're running but it's a very Natur natural movement to um to do it on The machine for sure and you go very Fast I took it right out to top speed For a second or two cuz it 4 minute mile Paces it's moving some um but then you Can easily speed up to kind of more Natural interval Paces for yourself I Locked in on marathon pace for a bit and Actually what you can do is you know go In the Run free J around a bit like you Would in the warmup ease up to your pace Exit the Run free mode and obviously the Treadmill then stays at that speed it Doesn't you no move around at all and Then you can move it with the paddles Very quickly it accelerates and
Decelerates very quickly indeed that's Um you know great for intervals great For you know everything really it's got A thing where if you're using the Paddles to speed up and down like if You're at slower speeds when you press The paddle it jumps further because you Know if you're you're trying to get up To speed you might want it to jump up a Bit quicker rather than moving in you Kind of linear increments each time and You can actually really fine tune the Pace down to the second pace is shown in Like minutes per K or minutes per mile Rather than kind of classic treadmill Speeds so that's handy as well if you Are looking in on the pace one thing That isn't shown on the machine is your Overall time and distance I would have Liked that I was jumping around between Apps so OB it's very much designed to be Used with lots of apps and then you get Your workout recorded on there you see The total distance total time but Because I was just you know messing Around trying different things I'd Actually know how far I've run I've got My distance on my watches which obiously Different you know very different Because treadmill and watches don't Always calibrate very well um but so That's one thing I wouldn't mind seeing On the thing as well as well could you Just see your pace and incline on the
Machine did link it up to zift both in Controllable and non-controllable mode So the controllable mode is interesting You know will you know when Swift and You're cycling you get that kind of Little image of the hills to come you Get that and then you can see see it you Know went up an incline then down Incline there see downhill on this tread Run as well and yeah it was just a Really great experience like I really Enjoyed running it did an hour on the Machine it's quite even getting rid of All the kind of things on there all the Runfree mode and all that it's just a Really nice piece of Hardware with a big Open front so it's quite relaxing and Natural to run on it full stop the belt Is nice nice and comfortable and all Around I loved it like I you know I used A tread Fair bit I test treadmill Sometimes but I'm a huge fan always of Running on a treadmill and that was just A really good experience upgrade on Normal Trad experiences and I think it Would really come to its own even more Certainly if you're doing something like Intervals when you want to just suddenly Burst into Pace hold a fast pace and Have to think about your pace cuz that's The thing about the run three mode like When I was doing it for like my marathon Pace like you have to get there and then Hold that pace actually thinking about
It like thinking about leaning into it Putting that pace through the machine Rather than you know normally tread you Set it to the PACE then you kind of Clock out mentally and just run that Pace and it's doesn't feel as engaging As when you're using that run free mode To try and maintain a Target Pace I Think that's quite an interesting little Addition there that might help runners Or maybe you prefer just you know Setting it to the non-run through mode At that point and just dialing in on That pace and let the machine do that For you but either way yeah really Tremendous stuff like I'm sure lots of Runners going be excited about this Obviously comes at a very high price tag It's also a very big machine so you're Going to need the space for that it's Got some Nifty features it's got like Almost auto level so if you're putting It into an uneven floor uh which is very Much the case for me if I'm putting it In the garage or even sometimes inside If you've got a mat under it or Something the floor might be a bit Uneven it naturally levels it for you The machine is a level base and it's Very solid and stable at high Paces I Took it up to the fastest Paces on the Machine just briefly and you know it Doesn't start jerking around or start Rumbling or anything like that it
Doesn't feel ominous you know it's not Incredibly quiet but it's not that loud For a treadmill either when you consider Like how fast you can go on it this big Train in front of you as well for all Your things you can't you know it's Designed to work with a laptop there you Know you've got the strap there to hold That and all that so yeah really enjoyed That run on it it's um certainly I think Going to shake up the treadmill Market a Little bit there's nothing else really Like that high price but not Outlandishly so I would say for a very You know High ECT treadmill like if you Just want to get very high speed and a Normal treadmill experience you can Certainly get that for you know less Than $2,000 £2,000 but there's a lot Here you can get an upgrade with by Looking at the woo pick [Music] R so really snap verdict on the machine I hope to go and test it again and Hopefully be able to test a unit more Extensively next year in the UK but it's A really great machine I think like it's Really interesting and if you're someone Who's really excited by the features on Paper like I were in terms of that Runfree mode then they will deliver in Person in my experience like I really Enjoyed that first run of them I really Want to go and do some intervals in the
Machine because I think it'll be even More you know useful for that kind of Thing the way you can speed up very Quickly whether using the paddles all The Run free mode and yeah just delers a Fantastic experience all around now the Actual Hardware even without the kind of Novel features you get here is very Impressive and kind of in line with its Price T so that that price is really Really high but you know comparable Machines I've tested things like the Technogy run which was is like $122,000 So Wahoo could actually have come out And said this is a $10,000 or pound Machine and you know set it at that Because they're almost setting their own Price here because they' doing these Features so well that haven't really Been done by anyone else and you're Getting excellent Hardware as well only Thing that's kind of missing compared to Lots of topspec machines is a built-in Screen but you have got that tray which Actually means you can use you know Stuff that you already have and then you Don't have to use a set screen but yeah Some people prefer the built-in screen On something like a Pelon or even the Techno gy run only other slight negative For me is the fact that yeah I do want Time and distance on the console like I I don't think that clutters it up I Think that's a useful thing to have
There and I did get a little bit of Static when I was using the paddles but That might just been down to the shoes I Was using so yeah overall I had an Amazing experience I think this is a Really great machine and yeah hope to Use it again and certainly big kudos to Wahoo for kind of pulling this off CU Clearly has been you know a lot of Ambitious ideas going into this machine And i' would say that it's delivered on Those especially with that runfree mode That just really works as well as you'd Hope it to
